Well apparatus



Nov. 12, 1968 H. u. GARRET'f ET AL 3,410,346

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(L #7 020 M PLVEPS ROBERT m D/N/V/NG United States Patent 3,410,346 WELL APPARATUS Henry U. Garrett and Clifford M. Peters, Longview, and Robert W. Dinning, Kilgore, Tex., assignors, by direct and mesne assignments, to Henry U. Garrett, Longview, Tex.

Application Apr. 16, 1962, Ser. No. 187,904, which is a division of application Ser. No. 484,164, Jan. 26, 1955, now Patent No. 3,045,759. Divided and this application June 3, 1966, Ser. No. 555,146

8 Claims. (Cl. 166--53) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This patent discloses a system for maintaining a back pressure on a wall and a number of different forms of valves in which the charge chamber may have its pressure changed by changing the pressure externally of the valve and opening and closing a valve controlling an entrance passageway into the chamber by a means controlled from the surface. One form of valve illustrated includes a means for changing the pressure within the charge chamber and a reservoir of pressure fluid so that fluid from the reservoir will be introduced into the charge chamber. One form of valve illustrated utilizes a resilient valve member. Another form of valve illustrated utilizes an annular sliding valve member.

This application is a division of our pending application Ser. No. 187,904 filed Apr. 16, 1962, which is a division of our application Ser. No. 484,164- filed Jan. 26, 1955, now Patent No. 3,045,759.

This invention rel-ates to apparatus employed in controlling flow of fluid into or out of a conduit in a well. In one of its aspects, it relates to a system and improved apparatus adapted to be employed in such a system for regulating the production of fluid from an earthen formation so as to maintain and control the pressure rnaintained on the formation. In another aspect, the inven tion relates to improved apparatus particularly useful in producing a well by gas lifting techniques and to improved apparatus for completing and producing Wells.

In many petroleum producing Wells, it is desired to control flow of fluid produced from a formation into the production conduit or tubing string so as to maintain a substantial back pressure on the formation while fluid is being produced from the same. There are several reasons for such desire, any one or all of which may be existent with respect to any given well. Thus, the maintenance of aproduction flow rate to be such as to yield a substantially constant back pressure on the formation has been found to limit the gas-to-oil ratio of the production from the well. It also prevents coning of water from a lower water-bearing zone into the oil sands and into the bore hole. By maintaining at least a minimum back pressure on the formation, the sand-face differential (i.e. the pressure drop between a point in the formation and a point in the bore hole) does not become great enough that "water underlying the producing sands will be lifted up sufiiciently from its normal level so as to flow into the well. Still another reason may lie in the fact that some wells cannot be produced at their maximum rate without injury to the productivity of the well. For example, a high pressure well may not be capable of successfully producing at a maximum sand-face differential such as would exist if flow from the formation was substantially unrestricted. In fact, permitting such maximum differential to be applied to some wells will ruin them. Accordingly, it is necessary to maintain a back pressure on 3,410,346 Patented Nov. 12, 1968 the formation at all times. It would therefore be desirable, for these and other reasons known to those skilled in the art, to maintain the back pressure on the formation to be high as possible consistent with the volume of fluid to be produced.

Heretofore, it has been one practice to locate a choke, which is a structure containing a small fixed-size orifice, in the tubing to limit flow from the formation thereinto. While such a choke will tend to so limit the flow and thereby maintain a back pressure on the formation, it has the disadvantage of being fixed in size so that once it is situated in the well, it is not possible to change the size thereof short of pulling the tubing or otherwise removing the choke from the well. Also, the back pressure it maintains fluctuates with flow rates, tubing pressure, formation pressure, the physical characteristics of the formation fluid and other factors. Accordingly, variations in these factors, changes in the gas-to-oil ratio, and other fluctuations dictating a change in back pressure to be maintained on the formation cannot be readily accommodated.

Bottom hole pressure regulators have also been suggested for regulating the flow of a formation fluid into a tubing. Such regulators operate by maintaining a predetermined differential across themselves so that by adjusting the pressure maintained on the tubing at the well head, the back pressure maintained on the formation can also be adjusted. However, with such regulators, there is the disadvantage of not being able to adjust the differential they maintain across themselves while situated in the well and, more important, adjustment of the tubing pressure at the wellhead to supposedly fix a selected back pressure on the formation involves several disadvantages. One is that it presupposes a knowledge of the pressure exerted on the regulator by the head of fluid in the tubing and that such head will be substantially constant. Since such knowledge cannot be ascertained with any degree of certainty, particularly under practical field operations and since the head will fluctuate in many wells, the maintenance or application of a selected back pressure on a formation with any degree of accuracy is not only well nigh impossible to attain but frequently cannot be attained at all. Also, failure of surface choke or other equipment so that they no longer maintain the desired tubing pressure at the well head will cause the back pressure on the formation to drop. In such event,

the flow from the well will be increased since the regulator will open to accommodate the volume of flow necessary to yield the pressure differential for which the regulator is set.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a system for regulating the flow of fluid from a producing formation of a well into a flow conduit in the well to maintain a selected back pressure on the formation,

the flow regulation being controlled by and responsive to pressure of fluid flowing from the formation so that an accurate and reliable control of back pressure on the formation is obtained despite fluctuations in well conditions.

Another object is to provide such a system in which a pressure responsive valve means is employed to control flow from the formation into a well conduit, the valve means being opened and closed in response to variations in pressure of fluid flowing from the formation upstream" of the valve means so that when such pressure rises or falls to be above or below a predetermined amount, the valve means is respectively opened and closed substantially irrespective of pressure of fluid downstream of.

Another object is to provide such a system in which the back pressure to be maintained on the formation can be regulated from the surface of the earth without withdrawing a flow regulating means from the well.

Another object is to provide such a system in which the back pressure maintained on the formation by the valve means can be selected by operation of an instrumentality controlled from the earths surface, such as by manipulating the pressure in a tubing or casing or both or by a wire line operation, thereby permitting periodically changing the back pressure to be maintained on the formation to be at a value consistent with the then desired volume of production from the well or with other factors, such as the gas-to-oil ratio, determined by such back pressure, all without removing the valve means from the well.

Another object is to provide a system for producing a well in which flow of fluid from a producing formation is controlled by the pressure of such fluid to maintain a selected back pressure on the formation and in which the pressure of such fluid is also employed to change the value of the back pressure to be so maintained.

Another object is to provide such a system in which a valve for controlling flow of fluid from the formation into a well conduit can be landed in or removed from its operating position in a well by a wire line operation, the arrangement being such that pressure of formation fluid controls opening and closing of the valve in operation and also can be employed to periodically and selectively adjust the operating characteristics of such valve to thereby determine the magnitude of the pressure of the formation fluid required to control opening and closing of the valve in operation.

Another object is to provide such a system having a valve arrangement as aforesaid and also having a packer or sealing means in the conduit-well bore annulus confining the formation fluid to the lower portion of such annulus, means also being provided for variably controlling from the earths surface the pressure of formation fluid in such lower annulus portion in order to thereby permit selection of the charge pressure of a valve from a wide range of pressures.

It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus and system in which valve means are provided to regulate fluid flow through a well conduit to yield a substantially constant pressure downstream thereof, irrespective of pressure fluctuations upstream of the valve means whereby fluid can be delivered to the earths surface at a preselected pressure independently of bottom hole pressure.

Another object is to provide a system for maintaining a selected back pressure on a producing formation substantially independently of conditions existing in a production tubing and for regulating the flow of production fluids through the tubing to decrease their pressure therein and to deliver them to the surface of the earth at a preselected pressure substantially independently of bottom hole pressure.

Another object is to provide such a system wherein the valve means controlling flow through the tubing are adapted to have their operating characteristics changed while disposed in the well whereby the pressure downstream thereof can be changed as desired.

In accordance with one feature of the system to which this invention pertains as above indicated and as will be more fully described hereinafter, the force required to be exerted by a control pressure to operate a pressure responsive valve is changed while the valve remains in the well by an instrumentality manipulated from the earths surface. For example, the concept of the system of this invention includes the use of a valve of the pressure charged type to control fluid flow from a producing formation into a tubing and varying the pressure charge in the valve while it is in the well to adjust the force exerted by the charge in urging the valve toward closed position in opposition to the force exerted by a c ntr l (i. e. formation) fluid urging the valve toward open position. By thus varying the charge pressure, the pressure of the control fluid necessary to open a valve is likewise varied. While valves capable of having their operating characteristics changed in this or other manners can be employed in accordance with the above noted feature of the system of this invention, there is provided new and improved valves for use in such system and also for use in accordance with gas lifting and other techniques employed in producing wells.

Thus gas lifting of a well usually involves an installation of a plurality of dumping valves and one or more working valves spaced along a well conduit or tubing to control flow of a lifting fluid between such conduit and another conduit. These valves are usually of the type employing a resilient means, such as a pressure charge, urging the valves toward closed position against the force of a control fluid, which may be either casing or tubing fluid, urging the valves toward open position. The operating characteristics of such type valves thus are at least in part determined by the magnitude of the resilient means or charge pressure. It would be highly desirable to possess a valve which can have the magnitude of its resilient means or charge pressure accurately changed while the valve remains in the well with such a change being under positive control from the earths surface and accomplished in an improved manner. Such valve could be useful not only in gas lifting a well but also in the system of this invention and in other well operations.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved pressure responsive valve wherein the effective force exerted by a resilient means urging the valve toward one of its open and closed positions can be selectively changed under the control of a tool insertable through a conduit in a well and manipulatable therein from the earths surface so that the initiation and prevention of any such change is positively controllable from the earths surface independently of well pressures whereby the latter can be varied over a wide range without effecting an undesirable change in the force exerted by the resilient means.

Another object is to provide such a valve which when installed on a well conduit in a well can have the pressure of the fluid exteriorly of the well conduit applied to change the force of the resilient means by a wire line manipulation occurring in the conduit controlling such application of pressure exterior of the conduit.

Another object is to provide an improved pressure responsive valve means of the pressure charged type adaptable not only for use in such system but also for other uses in a well such as gas lifting in which the pressure charge can be adjusted by manipulating a tool into the well without removing the valve from the well to cause the application of pressure exterior of the valve means to that of the charge to raise and lower the latter whereby the application of such exterior pressure can be positively controlled independently of the magnitude of fluctuations in magnitude of the exterior pressure.

Another object is to provide a pressure responsive valve of the pressure charged type wherein the magnitude of the pressure charge can be changed while the valve is in the well through manipulation of well pressures to open and close pressure responsive valve means controlling flow of fluid through a port into and out of the charge chamber of the valve to thereby vary the pressure in such chamber, the arrangement of the pressure responsive valve means being such that they respond to the difference in pressure between that in the charge chamber and that of a control fluid substantially independently of flow through said port whereby any change in charge pressure can be very closely controlled.

Another object is to provide such a valve in which the fluid in a charge chamber acts as a charge pressure not only in controlling opening and closing of the valve itself, but also in opening and closing valve means for changing the magnitude of such charge pressure.

Another object is to provide a mandrel with which a pressure responsive valve can be incorporated for controlling flow into or out of a conduit in a well, the mandrel providing the means controlling flow of fluid from one point at its exterior to the interior of a charge chamber of the valve incorporated with the mandrel, the control being eflected by an instrumentality controlled from the earths surface and acting through the conduit and interior of the mandrel to control said flow exteriorly of the mandrel.

Another object is to provide a mandrel having valve means controlling flow through a passage connecting two points both of which are exterior of the mandrel, the valve means itself being controlled by an instrumentality acting interiorly of the mandrel.

Turning to another aspect of this invention, pres1ure responsive valves heretofore employed in a well for various purposes, such as gas lifting, have usually incorporated a resilient or distortable member such as a bellows, diaphragm or a rubber sleeve, to act as a pressure responsive means to open and close the valve. Such types of distortable members are subject to failure either through excess distortion or rupture (particularly in the case of bellows or diaphragms) or being adversely affected by well fluids (as in the case of rubber sleeves). Also such valves have commonly been mounted off-set from the tubing or coaxially therein. The off-set mounting requires considerably larger eating or well bore sizes to accommodate the tubing so equipped with the valves than would be required to receive the tubing alone. In the coaxial mounting, the bore of the tubing is obstructed and well or wire line tools cannot be run therethrough without first removing the valve. Still further, such valves have incorporated a seat having a seating surface upon which a valve member seats a corresponding seating surface to control flow therebetween and through the valve. Such seat and seating surfaces must fit or mate closely together when the valve is closed to prevent leakage through the valve. They are given to failure due to erosion thereof by well fluids or for other reasons. For example, slight leakage across these surfaces when seated causes erosion which in turn increases the leakage. Further, when the valve is partially opened or even fully opened, the rush of fluid between the mating seating surfaces causes wear or erosion thereof particularly when the fluid flowing therebetween is gas cut or carries abrasive particles, such as sand.

It is therefore another object of this invention to provide a pressure responsive valve for use in a well in which the valve means for controlling flow through the valve includes an annular piston acting as a pressure responsive means by being exposed to the pressure of a control fluid to control opening and closing of the valve means thereby eliminating a need for distortable pressure responsive members and also permitting the valve means to be arranged around the bore of a tubing instead of therein or laterally off-set to one side of the tubing.

Another object is to provide such a valve wherein the piston is exposed to the pressure in a change chamber to be urged in another direction and provides a movable partition or seal between the charge and control pressures to retain the charge fluid in its chamber.

Another object is to provide a valve for controlling flow of fluid between the interior and exterior of a well conduit wherein a valve means includes a piston providing a flow port adapted upon reciprocation of the piston to be moved into and out of register with another flow port to control flow through the valve without necessitating the seating together of closely fitting or mating seating surfaces of a seat and valve member.

Another object is to provide a valve for controlling flow of fluid between the interior and exterior of a well conduit wherein a piston is provided to act as a pressure responsive means for openingand closing the valve means and also provides a port adaptable to be brought into and out of register with another port to control flow through the valve so that not only does the piston eliminate the need for the usual distortable pressure responsive member but also eliminates the need for closely fitting or mating seating surfaces to control flow through the valve.

Another object is to provide such a valve in which the inlet ports are arranged to impinge a plurality of streams of fluid flowing through the valve upon each other so that impingement and consequent wear upon the valve is re: duced.

Another object is to provide a pressure responsive valve in which a pressure responsive means controls movement of a valve member between open and closed positions and in which the valve member provides a port adapted to be brought into and out of register with a flow passage in the valve in such a manner that pressure applied through said passage does not exert any substantial force in urging the valve member toward open or closed positions so that operation of the valve is substantially unaflected by pressure acting on the valve member.

Another object is to provide a valve in which a piston is urged in one direction by pressure of fluid in a charge chamber and in another direction by a control fluid, the piston having a flow port movable with the piston into and out of register with a flow port in the valve, the port in the piston being arranged so that the effective area thereof acted upon by fluid to urge the piston in one direction substantially equals the effective area acted upon to urge the piston in the other direction whereby fluid within the port does not substantially influence movement of the piston.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sealing arrangement particularly useful in effecting a sliding seal between two relatively movable members and in which the seal is so arranged that one face of the seal is exposed to pressure exteriorly of one member to urge an opposing face of the seal into sealing contact with the other member.

Another object is to provide such a sealing arrangement constructed so that the seal can move across ports, annuli or the like without pinching, cutting or abrading the resilient material of the seal even though there may exist a pressure differential across the seal urging it into such ports, annuli or the like.

Another object is to provide a sealing arrangement for sealing across an annular space between two members wherein a continuous body of resilient sealing material extends circumferentially around one-of such members and laterally across the same to expose one face to a fluid pressure which acts thereon to urge on opposing face of the body of sealing material across said annular space, there also being provided bridging elements across the body of sealing material to connect together the portions of said one member lying to either side of said body of sealing material.

Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon a consideration of the written specification, the appended claims, and the attached drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating an installation in a well in accordance with one embodiment of the system of this invention and also showing various valves of this invention installed to act as gas lifting valves;

FIG. 2 is another diagrammatic illustration of a well installation showing one embodiment of the system'of this invention in which valve means are landed in the tubing and adapted to control flow thereinto from a formation whether or not a tubing-casing packer has been installed in the well;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of a well installation showing another embodiment of the system of this invention arranged for controlling flow from a formation into tubing, in which a packer has been set between the tubing and well casing.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the lower portion of FIG. 3 to better illustrate the details thereof;

FIG. 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D are detail views, partially in vertical cross-section, showing one embodiment of an improved valve of this invention and which can be installed in a well such as is shown in FIG. 2, it being understood that these views are continuations one of the other from top to bottom of the valve in the order of the views above enumerated;

FIG. SE is a view similar to FIG. 5D except that the mechanism for permitting flow into and out of a reservoir chamber of the valve is shown in open position whereas it is shown in closed position in FIG. 5D;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are views similar to FIGS. 5A and 5E illustrating a valve adapted to be installed in a well in a manner similar to that shown in FIG. 2, it being understood that the structure of FIGS. 5B and 5C is to be used with that of FIGS. 6A and 6B in a top-to-bottom order of 6A, 5B, 5C and 6B;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are detail views illustrating another embodiment of the improved valves of this invention useful not only in its systems illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, but also as gas lift valves as illustrated in FIG. 1, it being understood that FIG. 7A is a continuation of FIG. 7B, the latter being the lower portion of the valve;

FIG-S. 8, 9 and 10 illustrate alternative forms for the structure shown in FIG. 7B and can be substituted therefor;

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate another type of valve adaptable for use in either the system of FIGS. 2 and 3 or as a gas lift valve as shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate an embodiment of another improved valve of this invention;

FIG. 13 illustrates another form for the portion of the valve shown in FIG. 12A which is usable with the portion shown in FIG. 12B;

FIG. 14 is a partial cross-sectional view of the valve of FIG. 12A illustrating a novel type of sealing arrangement;

FIG. 15 is an isometric view, partially broken away and sectioned to illustrate the construction of the seal shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 1616 of FIG. 5A;

FIG. 17 is a view taken on the line 1717 of FIG. 7B; and

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 1818 of FIG. 12A.

Like characters of reference are used throughout the several views to indicate like parts.

In accordance with the system of this invention, a pressure responsive valve is disposed in a well to control flow of formation fluid from a producing formation into a well conduit or tubing in such a manner that the valve will regulate flow into the conduit so as to maintain a selected back pressure on the formation. Stated in another manner, the valve desirably maintains a substantially constant sand-face differential. The valve means is so arranged that the pressure of the formation fluid between the formation and the valve means is the control variable which exerts a dominating influence upon the opening and closing of the valve means and pressures of fluids in other portions of the well, while they may exert some relatively minor influence, are for all practical purposes dominated in this respect by the action of the pressure of the formation fluid. Thus, for example, if the valve means is set to maintain 800 pounds per square inch back pressure, any increase or decrease in formation pressure will result in a corresponding increase or decrease in the flow rate into the tubing so that the back pressure remains at 800 pounds. Also, any change in tubing pressure or well head pressure downstream of the valve means as by fluctuation in separator pressures, fluid head in the tubing,

gas lifting, etc., will not effect a change in the 800 pounds per square inch back pressure being maintained by the valve.

In accordance with one aspect of the system of this invention, means are provided for changing, by manipulation controlled from the earths surface, the back pressure maintained by the valve means on the formation. With such arrangement, it is possible to adjust the back pressure maintained on the formation to be a maximum consistent with the production of the desired volume of well fluid irrespective of tubing pressure and other factors. This means that the gas-to-oil ratio can be maintained at a minimum and also that the bottom hole pressure of the well maintained over longer periods of time instead of being depleted by excessive withdrawal of gases due to not maintaining sufficient back pressure on the formation. Also, water coming, excessive flow rates due to failure or improper operation of surface equipment, etc., are prevented.

The foregoing concept of the system of this invention is exemplified by the apparatus shown in FIG. 3; it being understood that other arrangements of apparatus are possible in accordance with the concept of the system and several of these will be described in detail hereafter. Thus, referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a producing well having a casing 10 extending to a producing formation 11 to receive formation fluids therefrom. Also extending into the Well is a tubing 12 which, in this instance, is closed at its lower end as at- 13 and provided with a packer 14 sealing the annulus between the tubing and casing. A well head is provided with the usual structure including a flow line 15 receiving fluid from the tubing 12 and controlled by a valve 16 or other suitable means. Another conduit 17, including a valve 18, communicates with a tubing-casing annulus and can be used to supply gas to the annulus in the event the well is to be equipped with gas lift valves above packer 14.

The tubing is provided With a passage, designated generally by the numeral 19, disposed to provide fluid communication between formation 11 and a point interior of tubing 12. The valve means, designated generally by the numeral 20, are provided substantially adjacent formation 11 to control flow through the passage. Opening and closing of the valve means is controlled by a pressure responsive means 21 connected thereto and urging the valve means toward closed position but controlling opening and closing of the valve means in response to the pressure of formation 11 existing upstream of the valve means.

Referring more specifically to the apparatus shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a mandrel 22 can be provided with an inlet port 23 communicating through a web 24 with a port in an inner sleeve 25. An outer sleeve 26 is disposed in mandrel 22 to be shiftable between two positions therein so as to move the passage in web 24 into and out of register with port 23. When the passage is moved out of register with port 23, an imperforate portion 27 of the outer sleeve 26 is positioned across port 23 to prevent flow therethrough. In this manner, valve means are provided to block and permit flow into or out of the tubing independently of valve means 20.

The pressure responsive valve means 20 for maintaining a selected back pressure on formation 11 are arranged in this embodiment so as to be laudable in inner sleeve 25 by a wire line operation and secured therein upon release of dogs 28 and 29 to abut opposing shoulders in an extension of inner sleeve 25 which comprises a receiver. Accordingly, manipulation of the valve means 20 permits sleeve 26 to open and close port 23 and the arrangement in such that upon pulling upwardly on valve means 20 to remove the same, dog 29 is not released until sleeve 26 has been moved to closed position thereby assuring that fluid cannot pass into the tubing exceptunder the control of valve means 20.

The valve means generally comprises a housing 30 having an inlet port 31 and an outlet port 32. A seat 33 and valve member 34 are provided -to control flow between these ports and hence through port or opening 23 which is a portion of passage 19. The valve member is connected to a pressure responsive means, here illustrated as a bellows 35, which is exposed on its inner side to the pressure of fluid from port 31'and its outer side to the pressure of fluid in a charge chamber 36. With this construction, it will be noted that the pressure responsive member urges valve member 34 toward closed or seated position due to the pressure in chamber 36 acting across the effective area of bellows 35. On the other hand, the pressure of formation fluid acting through passageway 19 upstream of seat 33 acts on bellows 35 to thereby urge valve member 34 toward open position.

It will be noted that chamber 36 is illustrated as being defined by an inner housing 37 which has its lower end sealed to the fixed end of bellows 35 and arranged to permit fluid communication between passage 19 and the annulus between inner housing 37 and housing 30. The upper end of the inner housing is arranged so that fluid can flow through a straining element, such as plastic member 38, into or from charge chamber 36 so that pressure from the formation fluid acting through passage 19 can be applied to that in charge chamber 36 to vary the operating characteristics of the valve means without removing the same from the well. It will be understood that the above-mentioned annulus will act as a reservoir to contain a resilient fluid and that formation fluid must move all of the reservoir fluid through element 38 before the formation fluid can flow therethrough.

In order to prevent an increased formation pressure from pressuring up the charge chamber each time the well is shut in, valve means are provided preventing flow from the formation to the charge chamber except when such valve means are opened by a control exercised from the earths surface, as by wire line. Thus, wire line head 30a can be constructed as a reciprocable valve member seating across a seat 37a at the upper end of inner housing 37. Seat 37a can be formed as a cylinder to receive a piston-like portion of head 30a bearing a seal, such as O-ring 30b. A similar seal 37b can be provided in an inturned portion at the upper end of housing 30 to form a sliding seal with head 3011. Also, means are provided urging the head toward seated position and can comprise a spring 30c acting between the inturned portion of housing 30 and a guide extension 30d on head 30a. The guide extension should have a fairly close fit within inner housing 37 in order that it can, with seal 37b, maintain the head in seating alignment with seat 37a. To facilitate flow across the seat and head when unseated, guide extension 30d can be provided with an inner bore 300 having ports at its upper end communicating with the exterior of the head just below seal ring 3012. I

In accordance with one aspect of this invention, means are provided which are selectively operable to apply the pressure of fluid exteriorly of charge chamber 36 to the interior thereof to raise and lower the pressure in the chamber by a predetermined amount where the pressure of the fluid exteriorly of the chamber is respectively higher and lower than that in the chamber and also operable to prevent the application of pressure of the exterior fluid to that in the chamber despite substantial variation in the pressure of the exterior fluid from that in the chamber. As shown in FIG. 4, such means takes the form of a partition 39 disposed in inner housing 37 to define the upper end of charge chamber 36. Partition 39 has ports 40 and 41 therethrough along with oppositely disposed spring loaded check valves 42 and 43 controlling flow through the ports. The springs on these check valves can be set or selected to exert a predetermined force holding the check valves in seated position. The springs will thus maintain the respective check valves closed until the formation pressure exceeds or falls below that in charge chamber 36 by a predetermined amount. The amount which the formation pressure must exceed the charge pressure in order to open check valve 42 can be the same as or different from the amount it must fall below the charge pressure in order to open check valve 43. The springs can be made strong or weak to determine the range through which the formation pressure can vary without effecting the charge pressure. In any event, the

check valves will always maintain the charge pressure so that the difference between itself and the pressure of the formation fluid from port 23 will always be less than a predetermined amount.

Means are also provided which are manipulatable from the surface of the earth for controlling the selectively operable means described above to cause the latter to apply and prevent the application of the formation pressure to that in the charge chamber. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, such means includes not only valve 16 in line 15 but also a means for establishing communication between the earths surface and the tubing-casing annulus below packer 14. This latter means can include a valve 44 comprising a sleeve 45 shiftable in the tubing to place ports 46 in the sleeve in and out of register with ports 47 in the tubing. The sleeve 45 is shiftable in this instance by a wire line tool between open and closed positions.

In operation of the system embodied in FIG. 3, let it be assumed that tubing 12 has been positioned in the well with packer 14 in place and with sleeves 26 and 45 in closed position. The pressure responsive valve means can then be lowered into the well by a wire line tool releasably connected to head 30a and latched in position in inner sleeve 25 and the landing extension thereof. In so landing the valve, sleeve 26 is moved to open position thereby permitting formation fluid to flow through passage 19 and to act against bellows 35. At the same time, the formation fluid exerts its pressure on fluid in the annulus between housings 30 and 37 and hence upon check valves 42 and 43, head 30a being held in open position by an upward pull exerted thereon by the wire line tool.

For the construction shown in FIGS. 13 and 4, charge chamber 36 will be substantially at atmospheric pressure when valve 20 is inserted in the tubing and the pressure of this chamber will increase upon landing valve 20 in sleeve 25 and establishing communication between check valves 42 and 43 and formation 11 via passage 19, the annulus between housings 30 and 37 and the unseated head 30a. The pressure in the charge chamber will thus be less than that of the formation by an amount determined by the strength of the spring on check valve 42. The strength of this spring and that of check valve 43 are preferably great enough, particularly when the seating arangement of head 30a is not employed and the up per end of housing 37 left open, to afford a range of pressures through which the formation fluid can vary without opening either of the check valves and yet permitting opening and closing of valve 20 at a pressure within such range. Stated in another manner, the pressure required to be exerted by the formation fluid to open valve 20 against the opposing force of the pressure in the charge chamber acting across bellows 35 is less than that required to open either of check valves 42 and 43. Such an arrangement permits valve 20 to open and close to control flow into the tubing and hence maintain a selected back pressure on the formation without having its own characteristics incidentally changed during its normal operation by the formation fluid opening one of check valves 42 and 43. However, when head 30a is made to seat across the upper end of housing 37, a substantial increase in formation pressure over that in the charge chamber merely urges the head toward seated position while a decrease in such pressure will eventually cause the pressure interiorly of housing 37 to overcome spring 300 and unseat the head. Therefore, the range of pressures through which the formation fluid can vary without changing the charge pressure has only a lower limit. In this connection, check valves 42 and 43 can be elimihated and spring 30c made strong enough to provide a known differential between a lower formation pressure and a higher charge pressure in much the same manner as check valve 43 so that the pressure in the charge chamber can be lowered by lowering the formation pressure, in a manner described below, to a value equal to the desired charge pressure minus the differential maintained by spring 30c. On the other hand, the charge pressure can be raised by raising the formation pressure to a value equal to the desired charge pressure and unseating head 30a by a wire line tool. Also, spring 300 can be made strong enough to hold the head seated against well pressure at all times and a wire line tool employed to unseat the head when the charge pressure is to be either increased or decreased.

Upon landing of valve and moving sleeve 26 to open position, the pressure in the charge chamber may be less than or greater than that necessary to maintain a selected back pressure on formation 11. In some cases, the resulting back pressure maintained on the formation will be too high to achieve the desired rate of production of the well. In such event, sleeve 45 can be moved to open position, if it had not been moved to such position prior to landing of valve 20, and valve 16 opened to permit a more rapid flow from the well and thereby decrease the pressure in the tubing-casing annulus below packer 14. In this connection, ports 46 and 47 of valve 44 can be sized to provide an area substantially equivalent to that in the flow tubing so that opening of the valve 44 permits the bleed down of the formation at the full capacity of the tubing. As the bottom hold pressure drops, the pressure in charge chamber 36 will also decrease (head 30a being held open by either the wire line tool or by the pressure differential thereacross) but a predetermined differential will always be maintained between the charge pressure and the bottom hold pressure by the spring on check valve 43. Since this differential is known or can be determined before the valve is inserted in the well, it is possible to regulate valve 16 to obtain a selected charge pressure in chamber 36. When valve 43 is not employed and spring 300 made strong, the bottom hole pressure can be lowered to a value equal to the selected charge pressure and then head 30a seated or, where spring 30c maintains a known differential, the bottom hole pressure lowered to a value equal to the charge pressure minus the differential maintained by spring 30C to give the selected charge pressure. This selection of the charge pressure will determine the back pressure maintained on the formation and it will be so maintained because should the formation pressure increase, valve member 34 will. be moved to a more open position to increase flow through the valve and thereby decrease the back pressure and vice versa. After the desired charge pressure has been obtained. valve 44 is, of course, moved to closed position. Valve 16 can then be opened and valve 20 will control production from the well.

On the other hand, if the charge pressure in chamber 36 is too low so that the back pressure on the formation is likewise too low, valve 16 can be partially or completely closed to raise the pressure in the tubing and hence that of the formation fluid flowing through passage 19. Then upon unseating head 30a, the rise in pressure will eventually cause check valve 42 to open and permit the charge pressure to be increased. When check valve 42 is not employed, head 30a is seated when the formation pressure rises to a value equal to the desired charge pressure.

The exact mode of use of the apparatus shown in FIG. 3 will be somewhat dependent upon the characteristics of the individual well. In some wells, it will be possible to land valve 20, open valve 44 and then adjust valve 16 to give the desired rate of production after which valve 44 is closed and valve 16 opened. Such manipulation automatically charges valve 20 (head 30a being held open) to a value substantially such as to maintain the desired rate of production and yet maintain the maximum back pressure on the formation consistent with such rate. Such a back pressure maintains a minimum gas-to-oil ratio because the pressure on the formation fluid is not excessively reduced before it flows into the tubing to permit excessive quantities of gas to break therefrom. On the other hand, when the rate of production is to be adjusted so that the gas-to-oil ratio is either at a desired value or as low as possible, valve 20 is landed in the well as before and valves 44 and 16 opened to substantially reduce the bottom hole pressure and hence the charge pressure of valve 20. The production rate and gas-to-oil ratio can then be measured and if a higher back pressure is desired on the formation, valve 16 partially closed to increase the bottom hole pressure of the well and hence the charge pressure in chamber 36. Valve 16 can then be opened and the production rate and gas-to-oil ratio measured again. By gradual increase in the charge pressure in chamber 36, the desired back pressure on the formation can be obtained. After the desired charge pressure has been attained, the wire line tool can be released from head 30a and thereafter, even if the well is closed in, increasing formation pressure cannot alter the charge pressure. This saves readjusting the charge pressure each time the well is placed in production after having been closed in.

The construction of valve 44, the receiver and valve means comprising sleeves 25 and 26 and that of dogs 28 and 29 has been shown somewhat schematically and for a more detailed description thereof, reference is made to co-pending applications Ser. No. 330,294, filed Jan. 8, 1953, now United States Patent No. 2,804,830, and Ser. No. 414,924, filed Mar. 9, 1954, now United States Patent No. 2,790,395.

In FIG. 2 there is illustrated another embodiment of the system of this invention and one which is particularly adapted for use in a flow tubing without necessarily providing special landing means therein and particularly for a tubing which is not packed off from the casing by a packer. In this figure, tubing 12 is left open at its bottom so that production from formation 11 can flow upwardly therethrough. Disposed within a tubing is a stop which can be of the type having outwardly expansible slips 51 adapted to engage the interior of the tubing when the device is landed by a wire line manipulation. The stop includes a central passage 52 to permit production from formation 11 to flow therethrough. A perssure responsive valve similar in action to valve 20 in FIG. 3 but of different and improved construction is designated generally by the numeral 53 and shown in more detail in FIGS. 5A through 5E. Valve 53 can be provided with a resilient means such as a spring 54 to cushion its initial contact with stop 50 and alsoto urge the valve upwardly so that landing device 55 will be maintained in latched position in the tubing. The latter device is one of the type to which a Well tool (e.g. valve 53) can be secured and then the entire assembly lowered through a tubing to be releasably locked therein at a selected depth by expansion of slips 56. Device 55 also includes a bore 57 permitting well fluids to flow upwardly therethrough.

If desired, another stop 58 can be positioned above device 55 to prevent any tools being manipulated in the tubing thereabove from striking device 55 so as to either accidentally disengage dogs 56 or to completely compress spring 54. Thus stop 58 can be employed to provide a bottom stop for a free piston or plunger if one is to be used in the well. It should be noted that device 55 also includes seals 59 which in effect prevent flow through the tubing except through valve 53 and bore 57 with which a discharge port in the valve communicates.

Turning now to FIGS. 5A through SE, a more detailed description of valve 53 will be given. The valve comprises a housing 60 which can be constructed of a plurality of components to facilitate manufacture of ,the housing as well as assembly and disassembly of thevalve. The upper end of the housing is provided with a threaded portion 61 for connection with landing device 55. The housing is also provided with a flow passage 62 including inlet port 63, outlet port 64 and an innerconnection passage comprising portions 65, 66 and 67. With disposition of valve 53 as shown in FIG. 2, passage 62 forms a part of the flow passageway between formation 11 and a point interior of tubing 12.

Valve means are provided for controlling flow through this passage and can include an annular seat 68 cooperating with a valve member 69. The valve member is carried on a valve stem 70 which terminates in a head 71. Resilient means in the form of a bellows 72 are connected between the housing and head 71 to define a charge chamber 73 in the housing adapted to receive a charge of resilient fluid under pressure. It will be noted that fluid from formation 11 can pass unwardly through bore 52 of stop 50 and annulus 74 (FIG. 2) and thence through inlet port 63 and an annulus 75 to act on the interior of bellows 72 and urge valve member 69 toward unseated position. The pressure in chamber 73 of course urges the valve member toward seated position by acting across the effective area of the bellows.

Referring back to FIG. 3, it will be evident that the formation pressure acts through passage 19 to unseat valve member 34 over an effective area equal to the effective cross-sectional area of the bellows minus the cross-sectional area of seat 33. Tubing pressure downstream of valve 20 acts through port 32 on valve member 34 to urge it toward open position by a force equal to the tubing pressure times the cross-sectional area of seat 33. It is preferred that the effective area acted upon by the formation pressure to urge the valve toward open position be made large relative to that acted upon by the tubing pressure downstream of the valve and influencing opening and closing the valve (e.g. by acting on valve member 34 through seat 33) so that the formation pressure exerts the dominant force controlling movement of the valve member between open and closed positions. When valve 20 is fully open, of course, the formation pressure is substantially the only pressure which keeps the valve open.

In the valve illustrated in FIGS. A through 5E, means are provided for rendering ineffective or counterbalancing an unwanted force exerted by a fluid pressure in opening or closing of the valve by providing a pressure responsive means exposed to the same pressure and so connected to the valve that it applies a force opposing the unwanted force and hence decreases or eliminates the effectiveness of the unwanted force. Thus, a pressure responsive member in the form of a piston 76 and disposed to reciprocate within cylinder 77 is connected by a stem 78 to valve member 69. Cylinder 77 defines a chamber 79 at one end of piston 76 so as to prevent pressure applied to the other end of the piston from being applied to both ends thereof. With this arrangement, it will be seen that the pressure downstream of seat 68 in passage portion 65 acts to move piston 76 into cylinder 77 and also acts to move valve member 69 off its seat. These opposite forces tend to counterbalance each other and by making the cross-sectional area of piston 76 equal to that within seat 68, the effect of pressure downstream of the valve seat can be counterbalanced so that the only pressure effective in moving the valve between open and closed positions is the upstream pressure acting through ports 63 and the charge pressure in chamber 73. The valve then, in effect, is sensitive for its control only to pressure exteriorly of the valve and flowing upstream of seat 68.

As pointed out above, cylinder 77 defines with one end of piston 76 a chamber 79. This chamber can have pressure upstream of valve seat 68 applied thereto, such as through ports 80A in order that the effective area acted upon by the upstream pressure will be equal to the effective area of the bellows, the latter being the same in area as the charge in chamber 73 acts to urge the valve toward closed position.

An improved means is provided for changing the pressure in charge chamber 73 through a manipulation of the formation pressure as it exists upstream of valve member 69. In effect then, opening and closing of valve 53 is responsive to the pressure of formation fluid flowing between the formation and the valve and at the same time, such formation pressure can also be employed .to determine the pressure in the charge chamber so that it becomes a control upon itself.

In FIG. 3, simple spring loaded check valves 42 and 43 are illustrated for regulating inflow and outflow of charge fluid from chamber 36. An improved means for regulating such flow is shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C. Thus there is provided ports 80 and 81 for respectively conducting flow into and out of charge chamber 73 from a reservoir chamber 83 upon which the pressure of the formation fluid upstream of valve member 69 is impressed. Thus, port 80 is connected by passages 84 and 85 to charge chamber 73 and by passages 86 to 90, inclusive, to the main portion of the reservoir chamber. A raised seat 91 is provided around port 80 to cooperate with a valve member or element 92 to control flow through the port. Valve member 92 is carried by a stem 93 terminating in a head 94. A bellows 95 has its movable end connected to head 94 and its fixed end to a housing part 96 which, with the bellows and head 94 provide a chamber 97 upstream of port 80 and subjected to the pressure of reservoir 83. Thus the pressure in chamber 97 acts on the pressure responsive means (within bellows 95) to urge valve member 92 toward unseated position in opposition to the pressure in chamber 73 acting on the pressure responsive means to urge the valve member toward seated position. In this manner, the pressure in charge chamber 73 acts not only to urge valve member 69 of the main valve 53 toward seated position but also to oppose opening of valve member 92 to increase the pressure in the charge chamber, However, when the pressure in reservoir 83 becomes sufliciently great, it will overcome the force exerted by the pressure in charge chamber 73 and move valve member 92 off its seat to permit flow into the charge chamber 73.

A similar arrangement is provided for controlling outlet port 81. Thus flow through port 81 is controlled by a valve member 100 carried on the stem 101 terminating in a head 102. Bellows 103 is afiixed to head 102 and a housing part 104 to define with the head a chamber 105 to which is applied the pressure from charge chamber 73 via passages 85, 84, 106 and 107. Pressure in this chamber is applied to the interior of bellows 103 via passage 108 to urge valve member 100 toward unseated position. The exterior of the bellows is, of course, exposed to the pressure of reservoir chamber 83 which urges valve member 100 toward seated position.

The differential between the pressure in reservoir chamber 83 and charge chamber 73 required to unseat one of valve members 92 and 100 is, for the construction shown, determined largely by springs 110 and 111 which urge the respective valve members toward closed position by respectively bearing against adjusting heads 112 and 113 and spring retainers 114 and 115, the latter abutting heads 94 and 102. Adjusting heads 112 and 113 can be screw threaded into the housing so that the compression of springs 110 and 111 can be readily adjusted and in this sense, plugs 116, each having a central opening therein for receiving a wrench part, can be provided in the adjusting heads to permit them to be screwed into or out of the housing. The effective strength of the respective springs, either determined by their own characteristics or by adjustment of the heads 112 and 113 can be equal to or different from each other.

With the foregoing arrangement, it will be apparent that when the pressure in reservoir chamber 83 falls sufficiently below that in charge chamber 73, the pressure in the charge chamber will unseat valve member 100 so that fluid can flow from the charge chamber through passages 85, 106, port 81 and thence through passages 88, 89 and 90 into the reservoir chamber. When the pressure in the charge chamber has been reduced so that its opening force on bellows 103 is less than the closing force exerted by spring 111 plus the closing force of the reservoir pressure acting exteriorly of bellows 193, valve member 100 will be moved to closed position. When the pressure in the reservoir chamber 83 exceeds that in the charge chamber 73 by a predetermined amount, valve member 92 will be moved to open position due to the force exerted by the reservoir pressure acting interiorly of bellows 95 becoming greater than the combined forces exerted by the charge pressure acting exteriorly of bellows 95 and spring 110. Fluid Will then flow from the reservoir through passages 90, 89, 88, 87 and 86, through port and thence through passages 84 and into charge chamber 73 to increase the pressure therein.

It is preferred that the cross-sectional area of ports 80 and 81 be made sufficiently small compared to the effective area of bellows and 103 so that pressure acting through these ports to urge the respective valve members toward open position exerts a relatively minor force as compared to that exerted by the charge and reservoir pressures acting across bellows 95 and 103. Such an arrangement means that though those areas of the valve members which are within ports 80 and 81 are subjected to one pressure when the valve members are seated and to another and different pressure when the valve members are unseated, the resulting difference in force generated by such difference in pressures is relatively insignificant compared to the over-all force acting on the bellows. As a result, the valves controlling fiow through these ports do not require one control pressure for opening and a different control pressure fo closing, Further, the small size of the ports 80 and 81 plus their relatively great length as compared with their cross-sectional area provides restricted flow between the charge and reservoir chambers permitting a more accurate control of the pressure in the charge chamber.

While it was indicated above that fluid for charge chamber 73 can be derived from reservoir chamber 83, it is possible to eliminate the reservoir chamber. However, in many cases it may be undesirable for well fluids, particularly liquids, to be injected into the charge chamber via ports 80 and 81. Further, submersion of the pressure responsive valves controlling flow through ports 80 and 81 in a liquid would slow down their action and cause the change in pressure in the charge chamber to be at a very slow rate due to the fact that liquid will flow through the small ports at a much lesser rate than will a gas. Also, the well liquid may contain debris or particles tending to clog ports 80 and 81.

Accordingly, reservoir chamber 83 can be provided to contain a gas for passage through port 80 into charge chamber 73 and to receive fluid from the charge chamber, the gas in the reservoir chamber having the formation pressure applied thereto to actuate the valves controlling ports 80 and 81. The reservoir chamber can be made of suflicient volume that when it is filled with gas and valve 53 is lowered into the well, the contemplated maximum formation pressure will not compress the gas in the reservoir chamber sufiiciently to permit the formation fluid to rise through the reservoir chamber and flow through either of ports 80 or 81 or to otherwise interfere with the operation of the valves controlling these ports. One way of providing such an arrangement is to leave the lower end of reservoir chamber 83 open at all times and to make it of sufficient length or volume so that when it is inserted in inverted position in the well,

16 the rise of well fluids therein to compress the gas from its original atmospheric pressure to that of the formation Will still not permit the formation fluids to interfere with the mechanism for changing the pressure in the charge chamber.

A more preferred arrangement and particularly one more useful in wells having substantial bottom hole pressures is shown in FIGS. 5D and 5B. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5D, the lower end of the reservoir chamber is provided with a mechanismcontrolling opening and closing of the chamber and adapted to seal the chamber so that it can contain a pre-charge of resilient fluid injected thereinto before the valve is lowered into the well. Upon so lowering the valve into the well, the mechanism opens to permit the formation fluid to impress its pressure upon that in the reservoir chamber when the formation pressure has reached a predetermined high value. This arrangement permits the volume of chamber 83 to be made smaller than when the lower end of the chamber is left open at all times as discussed above. Thus, the lower end of the chamber is provided with headpieces and 121 affording a port 122 communicating between the reservoir chamber and the exterior of the housing. Valve means are provided for controlling flow through this port and can comprise a piston head 123 equipped with a seal means such as O-ring 124 and adapted to be moved into closed position as shown in FIG. 5D where it extends across port 122 and causes seal 124 to effect a seal with the walls of the port. The piston can be shouldered outwardly as at 125 to abut another shoulder 126 on headpiece 120 to limit movement of the piston toward seated position in the port. With this arrangement, it will be seen that the pressure in reservoir chamber 83 will urge piston head 123 toward seated position as shown in FIG. 5D and maintain it in such position as long as the pressure exteriorly of the housing is substantially less than that in the reservoir chamber.

Connected to piston head 123 is a stem 127 having one or more longitudinal grooves 128- in its periphery arranged to conduct fluid between reservoir 83 and exterior of the tool when piston 123 is moved to open position as shown in FIG. SE.

A resilient means in the form of spring 129 can be disposed between stem 127 and headpiece 121 to urge piston 123 toward open position as shown in FIG. 5B.

Means are also provided for charging reservoir chamber 83 with a resilient fluid at an elevated pressure before the structure is lowered into a well. Such means can include an inner bore 130 through stem 127 and piston 123 and a check valve 131 permitting fluid to be injected into chamber 83 but preventing reverse flow therefrom. A sealing plug 132 can be provided to assure fluid will not leak from reservoir 83 in the event check valve 131 fails or leaks.

With the above arrangement, piston 123 can be held in the position shown in FIG. 5D and a charge of fluid injected into reservoir 83. As the charge increases in pressure, it will exert a force across piston 123 suflicient to hold it in seated position against the opposing force of spring 12 9. In this manner, the chamber 83 can be charged to any desired pressure. As the tool is lowered into the well, the well pressure acts across an area equal to that within port 122 to urge piston 123 to unseated position. It is aided in this action by the force exerted by spring 129. Upon the mechanism being exposed to a sufficiently high well pressure, the latter will overcome the charge pressure in the reservoir chamber and move the piston to unseated position. Piston 123 will remain in unseated position due to the force exerted by spring 129 and to the fact that the pressure across the piston has been equalized. Accordingly, well fluids are free to flow into and out of the reservoir chamber through grooves 128 so as to increase and decrease the pressure therein and thereby change the pressure in charge chamber 73 as above described.

A filter, such as a plastic element 133, can be positioned 

